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“Of courseit’s a fucking haunted house. Why wouldn’t it be?” I mutter to myself as I look at the rotting mess in front of me. I’m still in my car, working up the nerve to go inside. I’m sure Brad has seen me by now, but whatever game he’s playing seems to require me going in on my own.
The house has peeling orange paint and is surrounded by overgrown bushes. I can see the wooden front steps and one is broken. I’m sure he picked this place just to mess with my head. If I wasn’t so angry and worried about my brother, it might work.
I straighten my spine and exit the car. I expect my legs to be wobbly, but they’re solid. This ends now. Whatever end that may be.
“Brad!” I yell at the house.
I know what he’s expecting. He wants that broken and beaten down girl he created. But she’s gone. I found myself these past few months. I found love and strength. No one will take that from me.
The summer sun is starting to set, casting shadows across the already creepy looking house. I make my way to the steps and carefully walk to the front door.
“Come on out, Bradley! I’m here! You wanted me, now you’ve got me!”
Brad appears in the doorway after ripping open the swollen wood from its frame. His eyes are wide, and his blond hair is sticking up at all angles. He’s wearing stained jeans and a black t-shirt covered in dust and holes.
“You look like shit,” I tell him, keeping the anger at the forefront and not letting the fear that something has already happened to Cal take over.
“What the fuck do you think you’re doing?” Brad asks, looking frantically behind me at the other houses on the street. This one happens to be on a dead end and the other houses really aren’t that close.
“Your favorite thing, obviously. Causing a scene,” I say, tilting my head and giving him my bestyou fucked with the wrong bitchface.
He grabs my arms, pulling me into the house and slamming the door. The feel of his sweaty palms against my skin is revolting. I’d gag if I didn’t think it would cause him to start swinging. I need to figure out where Cal is before I provoke Brad anymore.
“Cal!” I yell into the darkness. “Where is my brother?” I demand as I turn to face Brad.
His hand flies out and slaps me so hard I’m knocked off my feet. I should have seen that coming. Brad is easy to send spiraling, but he’s also quick to react with violence. I got too caught up trying to rile him up.
“You stupid, bitch. I don’t have him,” Brad snarls, spitflying from his mouth and landing in front of me on the floor.
“Kai?” I squeak. I already thought I was going to lose him once and the possibility of that happening again has my strength quickly leaving my body.
Brad throws his head back and laughs. His laughter is so unhinged that I’m more afraid of him than I’ve ever been before.
“Nope. I didn’t take anyone. You’re so easy to fool. So easy to manipulate. So easy to control.” His words are like poison, weakening my resolve and my will to fight. But it’s the first thing he said that I cling to. He doesn’t have anyone I care about. That’s the only thought running through my mind as I stand back up.
“You’ve been trying to get to me for months. It obviously wasn’t that easy,” I say with a sarcastic laugh. I dust off my jean shorts and get into Brad’s space.
“If your loser boyfriend just died like he was supposed to, it would’ve been a lot simpler.” Brad smirks when he sees his words hit like he intended them to. The thought of Kai not being in my life is a hard pill to swallow, and it was one I tried to force down for years. But Kai no longer existing? That’s something I can’t ever be faced with again. I don’t think I’d survive his loss. Even the mention of it, especially from Brad’s lips, has my heart hammering and my eyes stinging.
“That was you? You tried to kill Kai?” I ask, even though he’s just admitted as much.
“It’s surprisingly easy to hire someone to crash into another car. Poor people will really do anything for money.” Brad’s smirk somehow turns even more sinister, but I don’tback down. It’s a battle of wills with someone like him. He’s not currently using his fists because he wants to brag about how smart he is. The moment that’s over, he’ll start swinging.
“How did you get the flowers into my dressing room?” I want to keep him talking, hoping someone noticed I wasn’t home or that my phone wasn’t working. Or that the neighbors heard me yelling at him in the front yard and called the police.
“The same way. I paid your tour manager off.”
Fucking Nate.I think to myself. I liked him too. “And the tabloids?”
“Ah! I was wondering if you would figure out that was me. The mom was easy. I paid her off with a bottle of Xanax and a handle of cheap tequila.” Brad is so busy bragging that he doesn’t notice the way I cringe. The way Kai’s mom treats him is bad enough without hearing how quickly she sold him out. “I guess the interview I gave probably made it pretty obvious, huh?”
I notice he’s staring at me, expecting an answer. “Kind of.”
“Then that chick Malikai was fucking couldn’t wait to tell her story. Or the story she believes to be true, anyway. It was pretty simple to find someone jealous of where he was putting his dick.” Brad is practically gleeful right now. “And then I find out,” he gasps dramatically, “that it’s the daughter of the owner of the record label he had a contract with. How scandalous!”
“I don’t get it. You don’t even like me. Why go through all this trouble?” I ask, genuinely confused.
“You’re right. I don’t. I never did. You’re just part of the job,” he sneers, clearly unhappy about it.
